What the Church Believes

The following paragraphs express, in simple terminology, the doctrinal convictions believed and practiced at New Covenant Christian Community Church.

What is the Bible? The Bible (Old and New Testaments) gives the true and trustworthy Word of God to humanity, written in the words and literary style of individuals. It says everything God intended to say as He inspired men to write it, and He has provided ample evidence of its complete reliability. The Bible is our supreme and final authority in faith, conduct, and our understanding of life.

Who is God? God is one, and apart from Him there is no God. He exists simultaneously and eternally as three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the author and initiator of love. Jesus Christ, the Son, is God in bodily form, a tangible expression of all that the Father is, and offers the only way to eternal fellowship with the Father. The Holy Spirit imparts truth, convicts of sin, turns individuals to Christ, and empowers believers for serving God. When a person repents of acting against the way God intends us to live, and as that person submits to Christ, the Spirit permanently dwells in them and places them into Christ’s body, the Church.

Who are we? Created in the image of God to enjoy and give Him glory, Adam and Eve, the first humans, chose to reject God and go their own independent way. As a result, their relationship with God was broken. Because they broke God’s laws they became full of sin. A gap between God and man was created that man could not repair. All of us, as decedents of Adam & Eve, suffer the same penalty.

What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the best news anyone could dream of. All on his own, God acted to bridge the gap that separates people from Himself, to redeem us back to himself. He sent His Son Jesus, born of a virgin, proven by miracles and by a sinless life, to bear the full penalty for all humanity’s sin by his own death through crucifixion. After his death Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, conquering sin, death, and all the powers of Satan. He bodily ascended to the Father where he waits for a period of time. In his absence He has sent the Holy Spirit to give power to the Church and spread the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, God gives gifts to all His people. Through these actively practiced gifts, all believers have a personal part to play in building the church and sharing the good news.

What is the Church? The church is made up of people who have seen their sinful and hopeless condition. They recognize their need for God’s help and ask God to forgive them. They ask Jesus to newly create them by coming to live in their hearts. They agree to live according to God’s plan. People who have decided to live this way belong to God’s church. These people are neither perfect nor sinless, but their lives are coming more and more under the control of the Holy Spirit, and together they express His love, joy, peace, and other Christlike qualities.

What is the Great Commission? Jesus has instructed His people to go everywhere, presenting the gospel to everyone and making disciples of those who repent and turn their lives over to God. All believers have a role to play in executing this plan, called the Great Commission.

What is the Second Coming? Jesus is coming back! He didn’t give us an exact date for his return. He is coming to take His place as King of God’s kingdom, in heaven and earth. Until then, the Church cooperates with his coming by being the tool for the setting up of His kingdom. When He returns, Jesus will also come as a judge for all humanity. Those who have received His offer of life will go to eternal blessings in heaven; those who have rejected it, to eternal damnation in hell.